"I like my own burps!" Pedro Pascal on playing The Mandalorian and meeting "The Ultimate Daddy"

Do you know how difficult it is to talk to you without using the comma bars? Look, he's waking up. Welcome back. Oh my god. Where am I? Why am I in a bed? Oh my god, it's so difficult. It doesn't sound difficult. Don't get me started. I'm your wife. Okay, not today. Not today, put a pin in that. Did he say not today? Honey, we've been married for eight years. Let's just put a pin in that. I'd like to talk to you in my... I would like to finally say on record that part of the enormous inspiration around that voice is actually only a few feet away. Her name is Coco Ulrich. She is responsible for the silver daddy hair of Joel. You haven't seen the world, so you don't know. And the gorgeous locks of Javier Gutierrez and the unbearable weight of massive talent. What is your favorite movie? That's one of those questions that's impossible to answer. She's also highly responsible for the L.A. mush mouth, as we have termed it, even though it's called the Kakabise. Thank you so much. You're welcome. I love the credit. There must be some mistake. I can get you more credits. I can bring you in warm or I can bring you in cold. I would talk to you in my Mando voice, but I can only do one word, which is wizard. Well, how was it? Wizard. That's all I can do. Try again. Wizard. In the Mando voice? Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. It's not working, is it? Come on. This is so wizard, Annie. I can hardly do wizard. I think Mando is an underappreciated comic hero. Stop touching things. Like he is funny so often. Yeah. Don't play with your food. Please agree with me. I agree. When he's going through all of his weapons and putting them in that tray. I know everything that's in there. Proceed. When he's delivering the one liners. Yeah. Nice to see you too. Do you feel like people calling him some sort of stoic, you know, bounty hunter, killer? No, he's a very funny dad. A comic genius. Yeah. Grumpiness is funny, I find. You stay right here. You stay. Don't move. You understand? Great. And also, in terms of how that physical language can contribute to this character that we find intimidating yet disarming, so funny in his seriousness. Yeah. What the hell? Come on. It also has a lot to do with Brendan Wayne and Latif Crowder, and Latif can find a way to even make action look comical in terms of how much the ---- gets beat out of him, you know? And the unloading of the weapons, particularly in that scene being Brendan, and this kind of trinity of physical casting around this character, I have to give them credit because very often I'll build off of what Brendan's done. I don't know how much he's studied my physical movements, but we're definitely in this kind of dance together on it, yeah. But when you say, hey, spit that out and stop touching things, that's on you. It's true. That's on you. No. No. So cast your mind back, way back when. You got an email from Jon Favreau. And just to remind you here... Is that what you're turning it into, an email? That's right. Was it an email? No. Was it a phone call? I got a call from an agent saying Jon Favreau would like to talk to you about something Star Wars. And how early on in the conversation did he mention that you'd be wearing a suit the weight of a refrigerator and would have a helmet on almost all the time? From the very start, when I met them, I stepped into a writer's room where Jon introduced me to Dave Filoni, George Lucas's protege, creator of The Clone Wars, and the other of the two as far as everything that is behind Mandalorian. And all four walls of this writer's room were the visual illustrations of the entire first season with this, you know, fortified silhouette of a badass character and this completely disarming, beautiful Yoda-like child. So it was quite clear from the start exactly what it would be. Excellent. They weren't springing it on you. So this is a Mandalorian. I thought they'd be bigger. Did Jon ever say, we want you to play a space cowboy daddy? What brings you here, stranger? Those words ever in the mix? I don't think I've ever heard Jon say daddy. And I say that honestly. I'm not even trying to protect him, but he's never said daddy. Hey partner, you want to tell me what's going on? But he's definitely said space and cowboy. I'm so going to make that happen. Are you more comfortable with Dadalorian or Mandadlorian? Mandadlorian. Dadalorian. Mandadlorian. Which one do you prefer? Prefer. I prefer the Dadalorian. Dadalorian. I guess I do too. Mandadlorian sounds like three different words. But Dadalorian is like, it goes all together. Perfect. I love it. It goes perfect. Perfect. Have you talked to any other actors about the fine art of acting when your face isn't on show? Is it true that you guys never take off your helmets? Because I've spoken to Chris Evans, and he doesn't have his eyebrows for a lot of Captain America. I can't believe I made a whole movie with this thing on. Do you exchange notes? Because it's not easy. It would have been really nice if Chris had called me. I'd just like to meet him, frankly. We can make that happen. Can we? How? Uncle. Okay. You got his number? Text it to me. I'll text him. See, that's what I like about you, Mando. That big smile of yours lets you get away with anything. But you must get people spotting you as the Mandalorian. Kind of. There's no easy way to ask for a favor. But do you ever get people voice recognizing you? People have said that they do, but I don't really go around talking like the Mandalorian. That's a lie. I bet when you want stuff done... That's what I do. Out comes the Mando. This is the way. There's a lot of work that goes into creating a convincing bedroom voice. It surprisingly isn't something that I can do on command. What? Yeah. Unfortunately. You understand this? I've got a curiosity question which may get me chucked out of the room. But do you have to be careful about what you eat before you put the helmet on? In terms of burping? Well, no, because it only affects me. And you don't care how you feel. If you've eaten a lot of garlic, whatever. Well, it's like in my mouth. In my body, you know. I like my own burps. Just like I like my own farts under the sheets. I could hear my publicist groan just now. Mission accomplished. Oh, no. Oh, my God, no. Stop. Tell me, though, who of your friends and family was most excited to hear that you had got the gig when you could tell them? Was there someone in particular that really freaked out? My older sister. She was even more of a Star Wars fan than I was. I got a little too focused on Indiana Jones to the point that I broke my left arm three times. But she was a real diehard Star Wars fan. For me, it was Indiana Jones. And for her, it was Han Solo. We'd argue about it all the time. You know, sometimes I amaze even myself. Who's better? Who is better? At this point, I don't know. Han Solo takes aloof to another level and dark humor to another level and says a lot about what she likes. That's what she's into. But was she ever expecting you to be hanging out with Grogu? Was there any sense, even in her wildest dreams, that you'd be hanging out with Baby Yoda? Because that, to me, was, oh, this is something special. I kept that secret. I didn't even tell my sister. It's the only secret that I've ever kept in my life. So careful what you share with me. Okay, noted. Noted. Why do you think, though, and this is a tricky question, the Mandalorian has been such a success? Because I don't want to make your mind explode here, but it's unbelievably huge. Yeah. And what do you put it down to? It's Dave and Jon, right? Of course. But it's so much more than that. Well, I think it's Dave and Jon nurturing what people love about Star Wars and also nurturing what they love about Star Wars and identifying all of its strengths and really taking risks as far as expanding and discovering new things that are built on the old things. That's much fear in you. So there's a lot of respect and understanding to the thing that is so beloved to fans. And fans know when they're being over-serviced. And so they're careful about all of it. And ultimately, it comes from their love of the franchise and of the movies, all of them. And that's why. That's why. Through the Force, you will find balance as well. I've seen you at Star Wars Celebration. That love is real. Yeah. It's like a beautiful, fiery energy. A fun jet. Yeah. What's it like when George Lucas is on set? It's amazing that he comes to set and surprises everyone with his presence. Because ultimately, Star Wars being within the Disney family. And when it was held by him, that wasn't the case. And yet this particularly is so part of Dave Filoni's heart, who is his protege. So for that kind of relationship to still exist. And for the ultimate daddy to come to set, to the set that wouldn't be there if it weren't for his particular vision, is as good as it gets for everyone. Do you get people calling you Mando in the street? Do you get Mando, Din, Daddy? What are you getting? I get Mando. You get Mando. Yeah. Mando. You know? As if you didn't know. Oh my god, it's Mando. I don't know. I love that nickname. Me too. It's very pure. Yeah, it really is. It's loving. Pedro, it's such a pleasure. I cannot wait to watch the show. You're gonna love it, but it's coming soon. Just a bit of passion. Yeah, exactly. Relax. Pedro, thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. Thanks for watching. If you enjoyed this video, don't forget to subscribe and click the bell icon to keep up to date. You can listen to my Radio 1 movies and TV podcast, Screen Time, on BBC Sounds. And you can find these interviews in full on BBC iPlayer by searching Movies with Ali Plumb.